Shoemaker: Indonesia's Exports Will Stagnate In The First Quarter Of This Year.

system shoes Traders expect exports to stagnate in the first quarter of this year due to export setbacks.

Binsall Marpaung, Secretary General of the Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo), claims that the footwear orders in the export market are insufficient. (Binsar) "We expect footwear exports to be sluggish in the first quarter of this year."

In other words, footwear exports in the first quarter will be the same as 875 million US dollars in the same period last year or 16% over the same period of 754 million US dollars in the same period last year.

He admits that as early as possible and some factors can affect footwear exports, it is not yet possible to predict footwear exports during this year. To be sure, the export volume of footwear in China last year reached $3 billion 500 million, or 6% higher than last year's US $3 billion 300 million.

The global economic crisis, especially in the European region, has yet to revive, which is one of the factors leading to the shortage of orders for footwear exports. In addition, measures to shift export destinations to the Middle East and Latin America have not yet improved significantly. "However, we are working with the Ministry of trade and industry to improve our export measures to the region."

In addition, the price of shoes made in China has risen, causing international buyers to postpone ordering shoes. This is the factor leading to the rise in production costs at the beginning of the year due to the increase in wages and electricity charges.

This situation makes buyers reluctant to buy shoes made in China. Some buyers even shifted their order to Vietnam, Burma and Kampuchea.

Earlier, the industry minister MSHidayat said that the rise in wages resulted in an extra $10 million worth of extra funds per year for export-oriented shoemaking enterprises with at least 10 thousand employees. As a result, the price of export footwear has increased to US $1 per pair. In fact, in the past 10 years, the price of exported shoes has risen by only 0.2 dollars per pair per year.